To blog or not to blog......

That is the question. Hello out there in blogland. I have been taking a little time off, trying to decide whether it's worth it to keep going. I love blogging! It gives me an outlet for writing and for sharing - my life, my hobbies, my family, the things I love to do. When I first started blogging, I knew it would take time to grow my blog and my readers and followers, but I didn't really care. I was sure that I would have them by now! I wasn't really consistent in the beginning, but for the last year, almost two, I have been writing pretty consistently and doing tutorials and projects. But to no avail.

So, I have to look at why. Why don't I have readers? Why don't the few people who do read become followers? Why don't I get comments? I even tried a giveaway and a name-the-bug contest on my other blog - nothing! I tried joining some linky parties and got a few lookers and a few comments, but no followers or repeat readers. Is my writing bad? Or boring? Are the projects not interesting?

I have been thinking long and hard about all these things, and I've decided not to give up yet. I know it can take time to create a following (unless, of course, you're young and cute and witty and have a thousand friends who immediately become followers) so I will give it some more time. I have never really asked my family and friends to even read my blog, because most of them would just say, "What's a blog?" Maybe it's time to do something about that. Get them involved. It's a little scary, because I know I'll get their honest opinion, and if they think it stinks, I know that will hurt. But at least I'll know, right?

I will give it another few months to see what happens. Maybe I'll give it up in the new year, but I really don't want to. I have never been a quitter! Why start now? Blogging has become part of my life. Everything I do and see becomes ideas for a post or two. I've finally gotten into the habit of taking photos of everything so I can use them in a post. I'm just not ready to give up this part of my life yet.

With that said, I will come back to blogging, but it's going to be really spotty for a while. I will be having surgery on my hands this summer, starting with my right hand in few hours. I'm not a very good one-handed typist, and especially when the hand is my LEFT one! So there will be a post here and there, but nothing regular until my hands are working again.

Friday Friends!

Friday Friends! are Saturday Friends this week. But I've got some really good links for you today. I've been doing some reading and searching and found some new-to-me sites that I really like, starting with Blue Cricket Designs. Rebecca Dulgarian does a super job and has some really cute ideas for Halloween that you need to look at, but I'm going another route. The post I really like and wanted you to see is a post called "How to break into the blogging world." I found the information to be very useful, and she has a sense of humor that comes out in her writing. Stop by and read this post and then check out the rest of her site. It's super! http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/2010/03/how-to-break-into-blogging-world.html .

Next up is Becky at Infarrantly Creative. Now hers is an awesome site! I love recycling old furniture and other stuff and her Roadkill Rescue section is full of great re-dos. She is the mother of 2 small children and we all know how time consuming kids are, but she seems to find the time to share with us her great projects. I chose not a furniture project to share with you, but a recycling project that anyone can do. Here is the link for the tutorial for making a handy bag holder for you car or tote bag or beach bag, or wherever you might need one. So cute!

Find find it here: http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/08/wipes-container-reuse-and-a-giveaway.html .

Here's another DIY'n fool. :)  Her name is Jaime and she has three children and a love for crafty things. She has some ideas that need to be checked out and here's one of them. I love love love these adorable treat bags, and she says they will hold 3 bags of candy! She made smaller ones for birthday party giveaway bags, too. Such a good mommy...

Check out her blog and all the great ideas at:  http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.com/2011/09/t-is-for-treat.html .

Now, before I forget, I finally finished my other pumpkin, the one with the book pages, and here it is.

Here's the front.

This is the back.

I put little eyeballs on the exclamation point.

And here are the two together.

 The book I used is kind of a funny thing. I found an old copy of the The Stand by Stephen King and I thought it was totally fitting. And...as I was tearing out pages, I found a page that told all about the printing, you know, the font and font size, type of paper, etc. And guess what? It was printed on archival paper!  My pumpkin will last forever! :) I gave it a light wash of orange to add just a little color and I really like the way it turned out. Now I just wish I had a mantel or coffee table to sit them on, but they look OK on the floor by the side of the TV, so it's all good.

I hope you are all getting in the spirit of Halloween (pun intended) and making some cool projects. Let me know if you are. I would love to have some guest posts. Until next time, think about this......Happiness comes through doors you don't even know you left open. Have a good one, Gramma G.

Short and Sweet?

Oh my gosh!!! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I last posted! What a slacker. I have been so busy with everything else, I keep forgetting about this until it's the early hours of the morning, like now, and I'm too tired. I know, this is a recurring theme. I will try not to repeat myself again.

I am having a real problem with the spacing in this blog, and I can't figure out how to fix it. I also can't figure out how to get my slideshow the right size so the right-hand edges of the pics don't run of the edge. I even changed slideshows, and slideshow providers, and it still does it. Oh, well, what would I have to do if I had no problems?

Problems are what life is about. It isn't about being happy all the time, or having everything you want, or even everything you need necessarily, but rather it's about how we handle our problems. How we deal with the lemons life throws at us. As I get older, I think my lemons are getting bigger and bigger, and I'm not sure if I'm equipped to handle them, but I perservere! I'm not given to depression as a rule. I have my bouts of the blues, but mostly I try not to get down. It doesn't help or change anything, ad it usually just makes it worse by making others feel bad. My husband suffers from depression, and I have several children who do, also, and it's not fun, either to have or to deal with in other people. So when I start feeling down, I try to find something I like to do that will make me forget what's making me blue. It doesn't always work, and sometimes it takes me longer to realize what is happening and to do something about it, but I do try. Right now, days are good. I have these books to keep me occupied and I'm enjoying working on them.

What is it about the word (or even the thought of) diet that makes me hungry???? All I have to do is think about it, and I'm starving. I want to eat everything in sight. I do all right for a few days, even a week, and then Wham! I find myself gnawing on my arm if there's nothing else around! This is the thing that depresses me more than anything...my weight. I lost 45 lbs. last year, and now I've gained almost all of it back. And I went on a diet, starting last Monday, and I'm failing miserably! But I'm determined, because I don't want to be too fat to have fun with my grandchildren. And I got rid of my fat clothes when I lost that weight, so now I have nothing to wear! If that's not incentive, I don't know what is.

It's really chilly tonight. It has been all day, because we've been having rain. It's been cold enough to put the boys in long pj's and have slippers on our feet and blankets on our legs! Isn't that nice? In the middle of August, no less! I really love this weather.

I added a guest book to this blog tonight. If anyone is reading this, I hope you will sign it for me. There may not be anyone reading it. I don't know quite what to do to get it out there. I'm still learning about this stuff. I found a website tonight that I will check out tomorrow, called blogtobook.com. I think it's about selling your books on your blog. At least I hope that's what it's about, because that's what I ultimately would like to do. If anyone has any ideas to help me, let me know.

I'm making this a short one tonight (or should I say this morning?) because I need to get some sleep. Amanda leaves for work at 6am and I am in charge of the boys after that. They got up at 5:30 this morning, so it's been a long day. Until next time, Gramma G.